Atypical Intracavitary Cardiac Mass: Tumor or Thrombus?

• Published in: Curēus (Palo Alto, CA) Vol. 14; no. 2; p. e21937
• Main Authors: Adeniyi, Adeyinka, Abadir, Sandra, Parikh, Kalindi, Khanna, Radhika, Yusuf, Sunday, Anais Hichard, Marie
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Cureus Inc 05.02.2022; Cureus
• Subjects: Asymptomatic; Blood clots; Cardiac arrhythmia; Cardiology; Case reports; Contrast agents; Dyspnea; Etiology; Hemodynamics; Hypotension; Internal Medicine; Metabolism; Metastasis; Oncology; Patients; Prostate; Radiation; Tumors; Ultrasonic imaging; echo contrast perfusion imaging; hospital cost; right ventricular cardiac mass; tumor or thrombus; cardiac mri; cardiac ct
• ISSN: 2168-8184; 2168-8184
• DOI: 10.7759/cureus.21937

Cardiac masses are a rare finding, with most masses found being thrombi or vegetations. Still, some masses are suspected to be a tumor based on multiple characteristics such as size, location, mobility, and the tumor's hemodynamic effects. Cardiovascular magnetic resonance (CMR) and CT have been shown to differentiate a tumor from a thrombus based on tissue characteristics of the mass. Here we highlight the role of contrast perfusion imaging on echocardiography in identifying the malignant potential of a cardiac mass. This case report demonstrates the effectiveness of contrast imaging with a transesophageal echocardiogram in identifying the etiology of cardiac masses without the need of CMR or cardiac CT, which helps save between $100-1207 of hospital costs. Besides the cost-benefit, the use of non-invasive and easily accessible imaging like echocardiogram enables smaller facilities with limited resources to diagnose and hence further manage patients with cardiac masses.